Seven Straight Birdies? That's Not The Real Miracle

CROMWELL — After golf history had been made, after little Sophie had charmed the lens off the CBS cameras, Kevin Streelman's caddie, A.J. Monticinos, said, yeah, Streelman is a talker.

"Walking from the green on nine, after his birdie, going to the 10th tee, he goes, 'We're going to shoot 29 on the back,''' Monticinos said. "I didn't know he was telling the truth."

Actually, Streelman wasn't telling the entire truth. He shot a 28.

Life, Streelman, his wife, Courtney, and Monticinos will tell you, is full of blessings large and small. And on this Sunday, sometimes, blessings come out of nowhere. After seven holes in the final round of the Travelers Championship, Streelman was 7-under-par. After seven holes, Sergio Garcia and Aaron Baddeley were 14 under.

For Streelman to score his second PGA Tour victory, it would require golf history. Until Sunday, Mike Souchak's six consecutive birdies to close out the 1956 St. Paul Open stood as the tour's greatest finish. Starting at the 12th hole at TPC River Highlands, Streelman reeled off seven birdies in a row. Yet before he could claim the winner's share of $1.116 million, Streelman had to stand there with Monticinos, Courtney and 6-month-old Sophie outside the clubhouse, watching on a remote camera as the others finished.

"Nerve-wracking," Monticinos said.

Garcia wouldn't catch Streelman's 15-under 265. K.J. Choi wouldn't catch him. Monticinos held Sophie as both finished a stroke behind. He placed Sophie in Courtney's arms. They watched as Baddeley, who was at minus 14, bogeyed No. 18. Streelman grabbed his caddie and hugged him. He gave Courtney a long, sweet kiss, pulled back and gave a tiny high five to Sophie and kissed her, too.

It was a tiny miracle, but then again, the Streelmans are used to tiny miracles.

Sophie was born six weeks early. An emergency C-section was performed at Shea Medical Center in Scottsdale, Ariz. She weighed 5 pounds. Courtney has a liver condition called cholestasis. It affects one in a thousand women, and she will have to deal with it in any upcoming pregnancies.

"We found out about it with just seven or eight weeks to go and we went into the doctor on Dec. 24," Streelman said. "He goes, these numbers we're seeing are alarming and we need to get this baby out as soon as possible or else a stillbirth is possible. So if we wait a few minutes too long, we could regret this the rest of our life."

Streelman said what followed was the worse Christmas ever — a desperate search for diapers, formula and everything else an infant requires is not easy on Christmas Day. They went into the hospital early on Dec. 26.

"We were pretty scared," Streelman said. "They got the baby out and we were just hoping to hear a scream because they were concerned about lungs at that point. They pulled her out and she was quiet for a few seconds."

You think leaning over a million-dollar putt with the hush of the crowd is the most difficult thing a golfer has to do? That's nothing when you're waiting for your tiny newborn to breathe.

"Then she let out this loudest scream and we just looked at each other and bawled our eyes out," Streelman said.

Sophie was in the NICU for a week. After winning the Tampa Bay Championship last year, Streelman was eligible to play in Maui and that was a big deal. He kept checking to make sure Sophie was OK. She was doing great. Streelman flew to play in Hawaii.

"Long story short, I didn't want to be there," Streelman said. "I wanted to be home with my daughter. But I played unbelievable, shot 17 under and almost won. Looking back on that week, golf was not that important to me. It freed me to play great. Sometimes in this sport, especially when you miss cuts or you make it so important, you just lock yourself up. I was free."

Streelman also had missed four straight cuts heading to Cromwell and had only one top-10 this season. After missing the cut at the U.S. Open in Pinehurst, near his alma mater Duke, he reached out to instructor Wayne DeFrancesco. He got some simple ideas to get the club in front of him and be a little more rotational through the shot.

"We've been really struggling, playing golf swing a lot and not playing golf," Monticinos said. "We just tried to simplify it and get back to fundamentals. Simple thoughts. Simple execution. There were no expectations."

Monticinos was honest. He didn't see it coming after a front-nine 36. But he got that birdie on nine and Streelman said, "We made our mistakes. We've got nothing to lose."

It didn't come immediately. Streelman hooked a low 5-iron over the 10th green and had to make a putt of 6 feet to save par. On the 11th hole, he needed a putt of 10 feet to save another par after putting it in the bunker.